Mazda has promoted Hiroyuki Matsumoto to its top European engineering-level position to replace Norihiro Tomita, who will transition into a vehicle line manager at the company’s Japanese headquarters. Matsumoto will oversee all of Mazda’s engineering efforts in Europe, a major test-bed for Mazda vehicles sold globally.

Matsumoto first joined Mazda in 1985 and moved his way up the ranks between the company’s NVH department and its chassis development research and development programs. The 47-year-old holds a technology degree from Kyoto University in Japan.

Mazda’s Leverkusen, Germany, office, located outside of Cologne, serves as its primary research and development facility for vehicles sold in Europe – and it also has played an increasingly important role in developing vehicles for a worldwide audience as automakers seek to use Germany’s race tracks and local technical expertise to hone products.